Ryker Campbell had never experienced anything like it.
Cooper’s junior safety had never returned an interception for a touchdown until Friday’s Class 5A second-round playoff game against Scott County. His 95-yarder was the biggest chunk of yardage in the Jaguars’ 45-20 win.
A familiar foe awaits: Southwestern, a 31-14 winner over North Laurel, in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. next Friday.
Campbell called the Jaguars’ pass defense “assignment football.”
“It was just reading keys,” Campbell said. “If the tight end runs out for a pass, guard him. If he blocks, just look at the fullback. It changes every play.”
Cooper (12-0) is still playing for at least three other reasons – Cam O’Hara’s 223 passing yards with three touchdowns, Austin Alexander’s three catches for 104 and two scores, and Keagan Maher’s 154 rushing yards and two scores.
“We ran trap (plays) a ton,” Maher said. “It just seemed to work every time; I was getting five yards every time we ran trap.”
Maher miscalculated in a good way – he averaged nine yards per carry for his 17 carries.
Altogether, Cooper gained 408 yards on just 40 plays for nearly 10.8 yards a snap.
“Offensively, I feel like the last couple weeks we’ve really kind of been in a groove,” Cooper coach Randy Borchers said. “We’ve done a pretty good job of maximizing our opportunities offensively. I think we scored every drive besides that last one.”
Scott County, meanwhile, gained 372 yards on 54 plays, a 6.9-yard average. Kayne Garrett ran for 121 in his final high school game, and Andrew Hickey threw for another 129.
“I’m extremely proud of our kids for the fight they showed all season,” Scott County coach Jim McKee said.
You could be forgiven for wondering whether O’Hara would ever miss – he hit his first 11, was 12-of-13 in the first half and 15-of-18 for the game.
Scott County (6-6) tried a bit of trickery – an onside kick to open the game. It backfired – O’Hara found Alexander down the left side for 57 yards and the score on the opening snap.
Garrett’s two carries for 31 yards helped the Cardinals move to their own 36, but a delay of game penalty stalled the drive.
Cooper’s offense took four times as long to score its second touchdown – Maher’s two carries for 21 yards, O’Hara to Isaiah Johnson for 34 yards, and 21 to Alexander for the score on a play similar to the first one.
“It was just my dude being better than their dude,” O’Hara said.
The Jaguars made it 21-0 on O’Hara’s 13-yarder to Johnson (seven catches, 88 yards) with six seconds left.
Ali Hamdiyah’s 1-yard plunge closed Cooper’s lead to 21-7. Eyler Tibbs’s 18-yard field goal gave Cooper its 24-7 halftime lead.
Garrett and Hamdiyah came into Friday with 1,695 rushing yards between them, but it was Timmy Emongo’s 28-yard run that pulled the Cardinals to 24-14 early in the third quarter, a play in which he was untouched around left end.
About three minutes later, Maher went 15 yards up the middle for a score. O’Hara set up the drive with a 23-yard pass to Jaidan Combs and two carries for another 17.
Scott County had moved the ball to Cooper’s 15 – and then watched disaster unfold.
“(Hickey) just threw it across the middle,” Campbell said.
Hickey hit Red Owens for a 31-yard touchdown, and Maher finished the scoring with his 34-yard score with 6:13 left.
“We knew they would lull us asleep and hit us with some passes,” Borchers said. “I wasn’t real happy with some of our pass coverage.”
Cooper ended Southwestern’s 2023 season in the quarterfinals, 24-14, in Somerset.
“We didn’t play our best ball (against Southwestern) last year,” O’Hara said. “It should be a good game.”
JAGUARS 45, CARDINALS 20
SCOTT CO.— 0-7-7-6 — 20
COOPER — 21-3-14-7 — 45
Scoring Plays
First quarter
C-Austin Alexander 57 pass from Cam O’Hara (Eyler Tibbs kick), 11:47
C-Alexander 21 pass from O’Hara (Tibbs kick), 7:38
C-Isaiah Johnson 13 pass from O’Hara (Tibbs kick), 0:06
Second quarter
SC-Ali Hamdiyah 1 run (Isiah Elliott kick), 4:35
C-Tibbs 18 field goal, 0:06
Third quarter
SC-Timmy Emongo 28 run (Elliott kick), 10:20
C-Keagan Maher 15 run (Tibbs kick), 7:41
C-Ryker Campbell 95 interception return (Tibbs kick), 2:48
Fourth quarter
SC-Red Owens 31 pass from Andrew Hickey (pass failed), 9:21
C-Maher 34 run (Tibbs kick), 6:13
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Scott 136 (Hickey 6-9-129-0 TD-1 INT, Lilly 1-1-7-0-0); Cooper 223 (O’Hara 15-18-216-3 TD-0 INT).
Rushing Yards: Scott Co. 236 (Garrett 13-120, Hamdiyah 17-52, Damron 5-31, Emongo 3-27, Hickey 3-6, Owens 1-5, York 1-(minus-5); Cooper 185 (Maher 17-154, O’Hara 5-31).
Receiving: Scott Co. 136 (Emongo 2-55, Owens 2-44, York 2-25, Lilly 1-12); Cooper 223 (Johnson 7-88, Alexander 5-103, Combs 1-23, Ewell 1-5, Maher 1-4).
First downs: Scott Co. 18, Cooper 21.
Turnovers: Scott Co. 1, Cooper 0.
Penalties: Scott Co. 8-43, Cooper 2-10.
Records: Scott County 6-6, Cooper 12-0.
